Not Applicable
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to document holders, specifically to provide a low-cost lightweight durable support and holder for documents that provide a ergonomically correct position for an operator.
2. Description of Prior Art
Adjustable document or book stands are well known in the art and while these devices are quite satisfactory inasmuch as their directional adjustability is concerned. Several may be moved in the vertical and may be tilted to face the viewer, they are not satisfactory for many numerous preferred applications and do not fulfill all of the basic requirements mentioned in the several preferred design descriptions that follow;
A useful universal holder for documents must satisfy several basic requirements;
1. it must be capable of positioning the document to be readily viewed by the reader,
2. it must be capable of holding many different forms of documents or material and have a method to hold a page or hold a book open with the pages held back;
3. it must be easily set up for use by anyone including a young, elderly or disabled person;
4. it must be easily manufactured from a readily available material at a reasonable cost;
5. it must be of a durable design and material to provide a reasonable length of useful life;
6. it must be light weight and portable and easily setup and collapsed;
7. it must not have any metal that might trip metal detectors which are more frequently used now;
8. a desirable design would allow someone not able to afford to purchase a manufactured document holder could easily purchase readily available materials and make their own. This would provide many children and low-income persons to benefit from my document holder design;
Many prior art document holders must be placed to one side of the computer rather than between the computer display and keyboard. This placement forces the computer operator to constantly look to the left or right to view copy, often causing neck and back strain, as well as resulting in inefficient work. The placement to one side makes it difficult to see print because it is placed at a greater distance from the viewer. Placement of a document holder to one side of the computer monitor and keyboard uses and or blocks valuable desktop space and must frequently compete for space with other items or blocks the access of disks from the computer.
Prior art document holders frequently have many parts which must be manufactured and assembled, increasing the cost. Prior art includes several attempts to create inline document holders as well as a number of document holders which are designed to be held at the side of the monitor. Prior art document holders have performed well for some of these applications but often use very complex and expensive assemblies. Someone searching for a document holder for a particular application would often have to find and purchase more than one design to fulfill the requirement for an individuals particular unique application they want to perform.
The present document holder generally relates to the special needs of youth or small percentile persons while still being adaptable to many other applications such as computer work stations, and more particularly to a document holder which is adapted to a keyboard drawer or keyboard shelf which is commonly mounted below the work surface which holds the computer monitor.
It is desirable to hold a document or a book in position between a keyboard and a monitor so that a person working at a computer work station can more easily transcribe or edit materials on the computer without having to turn to one side to look at a document. It is also desirable to provide a copy holder which holds copy in direct line of sight of and closer to the user. It is also desirable to easily remove a copy holder from a work surface when not in use to make more efficient use of a work surface.
Keyboard drawers, which are extended from a desk or cabinet, are positioned underneath a computer monitor work surface and are typically used when there is need for additional room for placement of a keyboard, or there is need for more work surface when a computer is not in use. The general limitation to providing a document holder which is in direct line of sight with the monitor screen and the keyboard is a lack of depth of a traditional work surface. There is usually not room between a computer monitor and a keyboard to provide for a inline document holder.
A keyboard drawer provides a method for support of a keyboard beyond the edge of a work surface and provides a convenient method of removing and storage of the keyboard in order to free the work surface for other use. A need exists for a copy holder adapted for use with a keyboard drawer to provide more efficient use of a work surface. Such a copy holder not only does not infringe on the limited space of a traditional work surface but also increases working space by providing additional work space when the keyboard is extended. Room is thereby provided for a document holder, which is also in an ergonomically correct direct line of sight of the user, the keyboard, document and computer monitor.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,314 to Crawford, issued on May 4, 1976, describes a paint box easel combination. A detachable lid for a base functions as a palette. An upright member having a bail fits into rib notches through the base center to adjust the angle of the easel upright to the tray. An easel extension slides in an upright socket and is fixed in extension for painting. The present document holder is an inline copy holder adapted for use with a keyboard drawer or shelf The present document holder has no upright socket nor does it have an easel extension. An object of the present document holder is limitation of the number of parts and ease of manufacture resulting in a durable yet economic method for holding copy material in a comfortable and ergonomic position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,055 to Summers, issued on Jul. 24, 1979, describes a copy holding device having a pivotally mounted support column and a support platform telescopically connected. It further includes a base assembly of a multi-layer construction and a projecting flange portion with a pivot pin. The support column has a vertically spaced upper and lower end section and a generally horizontally extending section disposed between the interconnecting end sections. The present document holder does not have a support column and does not have a pivot pin. It is the object of the present document holder to minimize the number of parts in order to achieve economic manufacture. The present document holder can be economically manufactured. It is the object of the present document holder to be easily setup or disassembled and removable for easy access to a computer disk drive and for easy storage of the copy holder. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sturdy document holder. The present document holder has past test with a use and load support of over ten pounds on the vertical support plate and lower document support ledge in a position extending beyond and below a common work surface or desk while in a vertical upright document holding position.
The present invention relates to a durable universal document holder that is easily manufactured, easily set up and easily collapsed for commuting and travel, and holds documents and books with pages held open in a ergonomically readable position, and provides that the user have their hands free for other work. The present invention discloses a document holder that is adjustable in the vertical as well as in tilt and which utilizes a document ledge which is adjustable level with or considerably below the common work surface as in over a desk or table edge. The document holder includes the document support plate and attached thereto the lower protruding support plate ledge for supporting documents or a book thereon, the base plate, the support brace with which to support and hold document support plate and base plate in predetermined and easily adjustable vertical angles in relationship to each other. The present invention also provides the document holding clasp of a transparent flexible material for gripping and holding of pages, or as a movable and adjustable reference guide for documents or holding a book pages open. The present invention provides a novel method to connect and adjust the document holder assembly by the use of a flexible hook and loop fastening material. Use of a hook and loop fastening material substantially mounted to the document support plate and the base plate and the support brace plate provide a method of connecting, hinging and adjusting of the document support plate relative to the base plate. Use of a hook and loop fastening material as a connector and a hinge allows considerable vertical angle adjustments and allows the document support plate ledge to be easily adjusted to varying positions level with or below the common work table or desk. A hook and loop fastening material as applied in this design also provides a quick and easy method to collapse the document holder for easy storage and transporting. Although the preferred embodiment is fabricated from plastic components, it should be understood by those familiar with the art that other materials such as wood, hardboard or various metals would be appropriate.
Besides the objects and advantages of the document holder described in my patent, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
1. To provide a document holder capable of fulfilling document or copy holding requirements for many diversified applications and individual stature.
2. To provide a document holder that would allow for documents and a book to be placed in line with and in front of user.
3. To provide a document holder that would allow the user to easily adjust the document and book holder to a level which would be more ergonomically correct and comfortable depending on the stature of the person and the dimension and configuration of a particular work area.
4. To provide a document holder that would allow individuals to procure readily available inexpensive materials to make and assemble the design for themselves.
5. To provide a document holder that would provide that documents and copy could be placed in the small available area on the surface of a desk or table in front and in line with a computer monitor and above a keyboard when a keyboard is commonly contained in or on a movable drawer.
6. To provide a document holder that would allow that the document or copy could easily be adjusted below the surface of a table or desk commonly used to hold the monitor in a position as to prevent the document or copy from blocking the monitor screen or interfering with the keyboard located in a keyboard drawer or shelf
7. To provide a document holder that would allow youths and a person of small stature could place the document or copy at a level that would be ergonomically correct and comfortable by allowing the document or copy to be easily adjusted below the level of a common work surface.
8. To provide a document holder that would allow support for documents or copy on the lap of a person as in a chair a couch or a bed and provide easily adjustable support angles as to provide a ergonomically correct and more comfortable read and write position. This would be especially desirable for the increasing number of commuters who read and write while traveling.